Wärtsilä Corporation and ABB Turbocharging, Joint press release, 24 August 2017 at 10.00 am EET
The technology group Wärtsilä and ABB, a pioneering technology leader, have signed an agreement to expand their cooperation in lifecycle service offerings.

In this context, ABB has granted Wärtsilä the Authorized Service Provider status for standard maintenance of ABB turbochargers installed with Wärtsilä 4-stroke engines.

As a result customers will benefit from enhanced engine performance optimisation over the lifecycle. Furthermore, continuous development of turbocharger upgrade packages and future digital offerings will lead to improvements in fuel efficiency, uptime, and operational costs. This cooperation will also further increase the depth and breadth of the maintenance offering, providing higher availability and agility.

Wärtsilä and ABB have signed a comprehensive, 6-year service agreement covering standard maintenance and performance optimisation of ABB turbochargers installed with Wärtsilä 4-stroke engines. The new agreement is an evolution of the long-term cooperation in the field in force since 2005.

ABB has the largest turbocharger population in the Wärtsilä installed base with 27,000 ABB turbochargers on Wärtsilä 4-stroke engines.

Sharing knowledge allows maximised availability

To ensure smooth processes and effective management of installation performance, Wärtsilä and ABB will share specific service data and maintenance documents. This also enables the inclusion of ABB turbochargers in the Wärtsilä Online Services offering.

The Authorized Service Provider status for standard maintenance includes disassembly, exchange of parts, balancing and reassembly of ABB turbochargers installed with Wärtsilä 4-stroke engines. For customers, this cooperation increases the options for servicing their ABB turbochargers, with a wider portfolio to enhance the performance of their products.

This agreement is an important step in Wärtsilä's strategy to expand its analytic approach to lifecycle performance optimisation to turbochargers. "Being able to look at the whole installation increases its availability and efficiency, optimising service speed and agility. Customers can reduce their operational risk, ensure optimal tuning and save time by being able to overhaul their ABB turbocharger at the same time as the engine.

Wärtsilä's aim is to expand its leadership as a global provider of quality services also to turbochargers. Thanks to this agreement, we are now able to serve our customers even better by offering them ABB turbocharger services coupled with our engine knowhow across 25 locations," says Tomas Hakala, Vice President, 4-stroke Engine Services at Wärtsilä Services.

Advanced upgrade solutions help customers stay competitive in their markets

Improving the performance of the entire marine or power application - including turbochargers - over the lifetime is key to enabling customers' competitiveness. Therefore Wärtsilä and ABB have started to offer upgrade packages targeting performance improvements with regard to fuel efficiency, uptime and operational expenses.

As of today, more than 100 upgrade solutions on marine and power applications have been successfully commissioned. With this agreement, both parties have reiterated their commitments to increasing efforts to develop and market upgrade and retrofit packages for Wärtsilä 4-stroke engines.

"This agreement is a logical expansion of the cooperation established for new engine developments, where we jointly aim to push the boundaries of engine performance to new levels. With this new service agreement, ABB aims to foster our leading position in the field of advanced upgrade solutions during the lifecycle to improve performance of our customers in their businesses," says Herbert Müller, Head of Service, ABB Turbocharging.

The agreement will result in 25 authorised Wärtsilä turbocharger workshops with an expanded service and maintenance offering.

This is in addition to the 110 existing ABB Turbocharging Service Stations around the globe. Customers will benefit from this expansion of authorised resources available to keep their equipment up and running, and performing well.